In the manufacture of electronic components it is in many cases necessary, for various reasons, to separate the components which, for rational performance of the manufacture, run immediately one after the other through a guide or delivery passage. The need for separation arises, for example, in the testing of electronic components.
German Offenlegungsschrift No. 32 17 531 describes and illustrates an apparatus for separating electronic components comprising an elastic belt that circulates in the direction of flow through the component delivery passage and replaces a section of the wall of the delivery passage, and that is in contact with the leading components of a series of components in the delivery passage. By controlled forward movement and stopping of the conveyor belt as determined by a sensor, arranged after the conveyor belt in the direction of flow, which detects the progress of the respective first component leaving the delivery belt, a separation of the components can be effected in which the apparatus is independent of the respective lengths of the components, since the different lengths of the components can be taken into account by running the conveyor belt for different periods of time. In this known arrangement a relatively large amount of wear of the elastic conveyor belt has to be reckoned with, so that it has to be exchanged fairly often, with a substantial outlay in labour and time. In addition such a separating device takes up a relatively large amount of space, so that it is difficult to integrate when there are a plurality of delivery passages side by side forming a magazine.
In another apparatus for separating electronic components, described in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 35 31 120, two stop members are provided for separating them, these members being displaceable transverse to the delivery passage and respectively cooperating with two components lying one behind the other, the first stop member forming a stop for the respective first component while the second stop member presses on the component lying immediately behind it. The two stop members are operated so that only one stop member dips into the delivery passage at one time. When the respective second stop member dips in, the respective first component is released so that it slides further on, and is separated owing to the slope of the delivery passage. With this arrangement the separating device is dependent on the length of the components.
In German Offenlegungsschrift No. 36 38 430 an apparatus for separating electronic components has also already been disclosed in which separation occurs in that the respective foremost component of the delivery row, lying in front of a stop, is removed with the aid of a gripping device transverse to the delivery row and supplied to a testing head. In practice it has become evident that even in the case of such a removal of the components from the delivery row it is advantageous to separate the components so that the gripping device always grips a separated component. When the components are not separated and the components are pulled out transverse to the delivery row detachment problems can occur owing to the formation of flashes (injection molding flashes) on the ends of the components facing one another, which lead to functional problems, in particular with suction gripping devices.